Buffing mechanism for car-platforms.



G. T. WESTLAKE & C. F. FREDE BUFFING MBGHANISM PoR GAR PLATFGRMS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT,15, 191.1. 1,049,017.v Patented De0.31,1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

man fo' C. T. WBSTLAKE L C. P. FREDE.

BUFPING MECHANXSM EUR GAR PLATFORMS.

AYELIGATION FILED SBPT,15,1911.

lyQyQ Patented Dec.31,1912.

2 SHEETSMSH'EET 2.

A emitan srarns rAria-.nr carica.

CHARLES r. WESTLAKE AND CHARLES r. renna, orsr. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNo-ns To .DOUBLE BODYBOLSTER COMPANY, or s'r. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A- CORPORATION or 'NEW JERSEY.

To aZZ lwhom t may concern: Y

Be it known that we, CHARLES IT. WEST- LAKE andCHARLEs F. FREDE, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buifing Mechanism for Car-Platforms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part off this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a cast metal platform with portions of the buffer beam and end sill, and showing the buthng mechanism in position thereon. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

This invention relates generally tornilway car plat-form construction and more particularly to the bulfing mechanism applied to cast metal platforms such as are now in general use in passenger car construction, and the principal objects of the invention-are to construct the skeleton platform and buffer beam so that a form of buing mechanism now in use on a number of passenger cars may be readily applied to the platform and buffer beam, to provide a construction wherein the operating parts of the buliing mechanism can readily be placed in or removed from position without detaching the vestibule or the buffer from its stems, thereby permitting the buh'ing mechanism to be easily and qulckly repaired when any of the operating parts have become broken or unt for service.

lVith the above objects in viewour in-l vention consists 1n certaln novel features of construction and arrangement of part-s hereinafter more full described and claimed.

Referring in etail to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the end sill of a cast metal under frame of the ty e now in general use, and formed integra with and projecting forwardlytherefrom is a series of vertically dis Osed webs 2 which form a skeleton plat orm. Formed integral with the forward ends of the webs 2 is a buffer beam Bof the usual box shape, and positioned on top of the central portion of said bea-mis a threshold plate 4.

5 designates the buliing melnber which Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led September 15, 1911.

BUFFING MECHANISM FOR CAR-PLATFORMS.

Patented Dec. 31, 191,2.

Serial No. 649,555.

formed through the front and rear walls of the buffer beam 3.

10 designates a pair of vertically disposed walls which extend lengthwise between the central portion of the end sill 1 and beam 3,

and between these walls are located the springs and follower plates of the' centerbutling mechanism. Formed integral with the upper and lower edges of these walls 10 and extending outwardly therefrom are horizontally disposed strengthening flanges 11. A horizontally disposed plate 12, which,v

if desired, may be perforated, is formed i12-v tegral with the upper edges of the front portions of the walls 10 and thus covers' the corresponding front portions of .the space between said walls. A corresponding horizontally disposed plate 13 is formed integral with the walls 10 a short distance ing between the front portion of said walls 10, and which housing is occupied by the coil springs of the center buiiing mechanism.

Formed integral with the inner faces of the walls 10 and extending longitudinally thereon are ribs 14C which serve as bearings for the ends of the spring follower plates and for the sides of the center bufting springs located between the walls 10. Y

15 designates inwardly projecting flanges which are formed integral with the upperv portions of the walls 10, and said flangesA extend rearwardly from the rear end of the top 'plate 12, said flanges terminating a short distance from a wall 16 which is formed integral with and extends transversely between the walls 10 adjacent the end sill 1. By thus terminating the flanges 15 a short 'distance in front of the wall 16 ample space is provided at the rear end of' the'compartment in which the center bufling gear is positioned, through which the follower plates and leaf springs of the center bulling mechanism lnay be inserted. Fl anges 1f? are formed integral with the inner faces of the walls 10 and extend rearwardly from the bottom plate 13 to .the lower end of the .below the plate 12, thereby forming a housbear against the follower plate 18. rlhe rear plate 1s a series of leaf springs 22 which ends of these coil springs 19 bear directly against a follower plate 20 which is pro vided with a concave rear face 21, and this plate is supported by flanges 17, and during operation the ends of said plate bear against the ribs lll. Positioned to the rear of the are supported by the danges 17, and located tid to the rear of these leaf springs against the wall 16 is a rear followerplate 23 having a convex face against which the rear one of the leaf springs engages. rl`he follower plates 2O and 23 and the leaf springs 22 are arranged in the space between the walls l0 by being inserted through the space between the transverse wall 16 and the rear ends of the flanges l5, and after the parts have been Aplaced in operative position a plate 2d is placed over the space through which the parts have been inserted, and said plate is hired to the flanges l1 in any suitable manner.

Transversely disposed plates 25 are formed integral with the platform and ein tend between the central portions of the plates 10 and the adjacent webs '2., lormed through the central portions of these plates 25 are openings 26 through which therear ends of the side stems 8 engage. 7the forward portions of the side stems 3, or those portions which operate through the beam 3, are preferably square or non-circular in cross section, and the rear portions of said stems are round in cross section, as designated by 8.a. Arranged on the rounded rear portions of the side stems are coil springs 27 the forward ends of which bear against shoulders formed between the rounded rear portions of said side stems and the square or non-circular forward portions thereof, and the rear ends of these springs bear against the plates 25, The portions of Vthe stems 8 which project through the plates 25 are threaded and receive nuts 28. Under normal conditions the side louder springs 27 hold the buffer 5 at its outward limit of movement, and when said louder is moved toward the beam 3 during the coupling of two cars the coil springs "19 are first compressed, after which the leaf springs 22 are ent between the blocks 20 and 23, and thus the coil springs and lleaf springs combine and yieldingly resist the inward movement of the buffer and birding mechanism until said buffer has been moved to a point where the coupling of the cars is edected.,

inaaoiv ln addition to the natural resiliency of the leaf springs 22 considerable friction is developed between the leaves of said springs during the rearward movement of the buffing mechanism, and this friction combines with'the resiliency of the springs to resist the inward movement of the parts of the bufling` gear. By utilizing a leaf spring of this form it is not necessary to provide extra heavy coil springs in the forward portion of the center bufing mechanism. The ribs lll and flanges 17 serve as supports and guides for the ends of the follower'plates 18 and 20 and the leaf springs 22, and when necessary, these ribs andl flanges may be ground olf or chipped away to provide an accurate working lit for the various moving parts of the bufling gear.

The construction herein described is coniparatively light in weight, is very strong and rigid and the entire bufling mechanism can be easily and quickly placed in operative position upon the platform or removed therefrom without detaching the vestibule or the buffer from its stems, and therefore said construction is especially advantageous when it is necessary to make repairs or to renew any parts which have become worn or broken in service.

lt will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, `form and construction of the various parts of our improved buifing mechanism can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of our invention, the scope of which is setV forth in the appended claims.

lvlfe claim:

1. ln a bufling mechanism of the class described, the combination with a platform and integral bung beam, of a pair of ver tical'walls forming a part of the platform and intending rearwardly from'the central. portion of the buder beam, a spring pocket formed between the forward portions of said walls the space between the rear porn tions of said walls being adapted to receive parts of the buiiing gear and flanges integral with and projecting inwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls to the rear of the spring pocket, which anges overlie the ends of parts of the bufing gear positioned in the space between therear portions of said walls.

2, lin a buiing mechanism of the class described, a cast metal platform, an end sill and buder beam integral therewith, vertically disposed walls integral with the platform and extendin from the bilder beam to the end sill, a spring pocket formed between the forward portions of said walls, the space between the rear portions of said walls being adapted to receive parts of a bathing gear flanges integral with and projecting inwardly from the upper edges of the vertical walls to the rear of the spring pocket, which flanges overlie the ends of parts of the bufiing gear positioned in the space between the rear portions of said walls supporting flanges formed on the inner faces of the walls to the rear of the spring pocket and longitudinally extending guide ribs formed on the inner faces of the vertically disposed walls, which guide ribs are continuous throughout the length of said walls.

3. In a bulling mechanism of the class described, a cast metal platform, an end sill and buffer beam integral therewith, a pair of vertically disposed longitudinally extending walls forming a part of the skeleton platform, top and bottom plates -integral with the forward portions of said walls to form a spring pocket, integral inwardly projecting flanges on the vertical walls, which flanges extend rearwardly from the top and bottom plates and the rear portions of the flanges on the tops of said vertical walls being cut away to permit the insertion of parts of the bufling gear into the space between said walls.

4. In a bulfing mechanism of the class de-y scribed, a cast metal platform, an end sill and buifer beam integral therewith, a pair of walls forming a part of the platform between the end sill and buffer beam, top and bottom plates uniting the forward portions of said walls to form a spring pocket, supporting flanges formed on the inner faces of the walls to the rear of the bottom plate, flanges projecting inwardly from the upper edges of the walls tol the rear of the top plate and the rear portions of which last mentioned flanges are cut away to form a tween the end sill and buffer beam, top and bottom plates uniting the`forward portions of said walls to form a spring p ocket, supporting flanges formed on the inner faces .of the walls to the vrear of the bottom plate,

flanges projecting inwardly from the upper edges of the walls to the rear of the top plate, the rear portions of which last mentioned flanges are cut away to permit the insertion of parts of the bulling mechanism between the vertical walls, a `member removably applied to the platform above the cut away portions of said flanges longitudinally extending bearing ribs formed on the inner faces of the walls between the top and bottom plates longitudinally extending walls forming a part of the platform and arranged to the sides of the lirst mentioned pair of walls, transversely disposed plates arranged between the first mentioned pair of Walls and the side walls, which plates are perforated to formbearings for the rear portions of the side buer stems.

In testimony whereof we hereunto atlix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses, this 6th day of Sept., 1911.

CHARLES T. WESTLAKE. CHARLES F. FREDE. Witnesses:

HAL C. BELLVILLE, FRED W. DIECKMANN. 

